A chunk of the electorate remains willing to swap constitutional rights and privacy for protection against terrorism. The only chance to break this pattern is if the 2016 elections offer a definitive political verdict on restoring the privacy of electronic communications.

From The Week: "In a special edition of Political Wire's podcast, we spoke with three former presidential speechwriters — former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau, former George W. Bush scribe David Frum, and former Clinton writer Michael Waldman — about the State of the Union address."

From NPR: "Michael Waldman, who directed former President Clinton's speechwriting shop, expects that Obama's speech will have the same road-tested quality SOTUs typically have. Presidents who hope to get anything done with Congress try to avoid surprises."